mrcp part 2 written july 08,let us share our experience

Although I can't remember the full details.. but there was also a question about chest symptoms and signs.. the CXR showed unilateral homogenous opicity with STRAIGHT upper border... answer: Hemothorax (I think the absent meniscus sign is the clue here)

In general, the questions were reasonable for a PG exam as well as the photos but the imaging was really terrible..

Can you imagine that I answered all the PELVIC X-RAYS as paget's disease coz my colleague who passed the previos exam had one!!! we had 3 pelvic X-rays hehehehe :shock:

When I was preparing for the exam I searched the web for a guide to understand the BONE SCANS... and I failed to find a good site... We had many bone scans than I was expecting :cry:

All the ECGs were straight forward.. except one:
Pt with pacemaker, everytime he brushed his teeth, he collaped, they checked pacemaker (impedence OK) then he got an event recorder.. they showed the ECG when he collapsed while brushing his teeth: initially, you can see the spikes and QRS then suddenly no spikes no QRS complexes... since no spikes: I went for lead fracture!!

Dear Dr.Osama ,
Ur answer for the Q of the depressed boy is right . Notice that he had lost wt . TCA lead to increased wt (SSRIs r anorexogenic ). I agree with u that the worst of the exam was the images , which included a lot of CT scans and MRIs . Time was not enough as regards the tricks of most Qs.

dear all ,the q about young boy with depression, no guide lines say age above 18<take this site and check,(clinpsyc.blogspot.com/2007/09/peer-review-ssris-suicide-and-booze.html),,,,about pancreatitis,,u can not take the patient to theatre directly before supporting (iv fluids<<<) UNLESS YOU WANT TO KILL HIM!!!!so please dont be so confident next time....

dear all ,the q about young boy with depression, no guide lines say age above 18<take this site and check,(clinpsyc.blogspot.com/2007/09/peer-review-ssris-suicide-and-booze.html),,,,about pancreatitis,,u can not take the patient to theatre directly before supporting (iv fluids<<<) UNLESS YOU WANT TO KILL HIM!!!!so please dont be so confident next time....

On 10 December 2003, the UK Committee on the Safety of Medicines (CSM) released new guidance to doctors on the prescribing of antidepressant medicines for children. It advised doctors not to prescribe a certain range of antidepressants (known as SSRIs) for children with depression below the age of 18 years, with the exception of one drug - fluoxetine (brand name Prozac). This advice does not affect the treatment of adults. Below the CSM's advice and its implications are explored.

HI. everybody, for me the exam was not that difficult, it was easier than part one, It depend on the knowledge of some statistics & facts. For me Shrma is excellent, onexamination has the key for all answers if you read carefully the explanations.

Hi Guest,
I do not agree .
Part two is a tough and tricky exam .
Just read the above debate about panceratitis, depression and the
photos and u will know . I scored 84% in part one but i fail part two twise and probably i am going to fail this time also . I went through on examin , Sharma ,123doc but they keep changing the senarios they were brand new and time is short.
For the one who said the exam was eay , what was the answer for the pt with recurrent gout after giving colchicine what will u do with regard to allopurinol his creatinine 150 ?
Dr abeed

I dont agree with you dr S.Z that part 2 is easy exam.it is tougher than part 1 as there are few repetition.part 1 questions are straight forward.in jan part 1 cut off was 65%.do u think this time part 2 cut off will be more than tht just bcas its easier thn part 1.
As u said sharma is good book and onexamiantion also.here in part2 they assess in depth knowledge

the issue is not wether mrcp2 is easy or difficult. many poeple pass it in first attempt while they couldnt pass part 1 even in 3rd attempt. it is the issue of your mind alertness and the speed by which your mind can really keep on answering a lot of lengthy questions in a very short time .They want to judge eg how many patients you can see in 6 hours or 8 hours and at the same time diagnose or manage or investigate appropriately and safely.
it is indeed v difficult exam .some poeple do pass by just picking randomly the correct answer after eeni meeni mina mo! :lol: but they get caught in the clinical exam.

salam,
result is only 5 days away.usually result will be available on their site on friday evening but once they posted result on thusday evening.
i am requesting every one for last 60 to 70 qs posting.it will help the next exam candidate.
thanks to all for joining lively discurssion.
dr abu kamal

I dont think its a % passmark , its overall percentile of people taking exam.
The last I heard was 60% people pass and the rest 40% fail.
Its reverse for part 1 , 65% people fail only first 35% percentile pass.

salam,
thanks to allah first.
i have passed the exam in 1st attempt.
i got 65% marks.
i was really anxious about this tough exam.
thanks dr saara and all others for joining this discurssion.
dr abu kamal

Thanks God i pass, Hope u also saara, abu kamal and the rest
i pass through difficult nights , this was my third trial i began to loose
hope . The discussion was good after the exam . But still the Q is
was it supportive ttt or ERCP for panceritis !!!!
thanks to all
DR abeed
hope we meet in paces,,,
cheeeeeeeeeers

Sorry to intrude (especially as I'm British so not entitled to be here). But I'm very relieved to have passed (it was my SECOND attempt) so wonderful to find a site/forum where other people are discussing this so I can celebrate with you!! I took 11 years out of medicine until this year so wasn't sure if I could ever pass!

Congrats to everyone else that passed. To anyone that didn't - take some reassurance in that I failed last time and passed this time - am sure you'll do fine in December...

first of all thanks to god, I passed the exam
Al hamdu lillah hamdan katheeran
congradulation every one who passed the exam
I didn't expect the 69.17
because honestly I didn' read well having 23 night calls in july before my exam was killing me
but now I realized that this is not a last hour exam, It is a reflection of your hard work in the ward with your pateints for years of practicing medicine

I passed my part one from the first attempt as well as part two and this is my advice to every one who wants to pass:

*dont leave everyday cases without reading about it at home it is the case in pracice that sticks in mind

*make sure that your decision in a case is the same as the guidelines

here is some books I found great to read in:
Ebstein's on examination(great book read it every day)
MKSAP this is the best MCQ ever(American but great)
Davidson is wonderful but you'll have to read Harrison to complete your knowlege about common diseases
I read sharma and onexamination.com in last two months an only once
UpToDate is great for your every day cases and for guidelines

I didn't prepare well but it is my everyday pracice that saved me
After all this is my very personal experience I hope it's going to be useful to someone
this is my email dromarmahdi@yahoo.com ready to share experiences and plans to pass PACES

thanks all.i passed the exam the 2nd attempt and i am so happy.failed the 1st attempt in december 2007 by 0.5% so u can imagine the relief.the way to passing the exam is to practice as many questions as possible and check any confusing answers.all da best.we will all make it.

hi mak9_ mak9,
thanks for ur Q posting!it will help me alot ,i have to sit on coming dec,biz i passed my part 1 in may.i congratulate on u,since u have got so many high mark!

16- A patient on Furesomide & ramipril developed an infection & became hypotensive (the explanation here is sepsis I guess because he was fulfilling the criteria for severe sepsis). His urine output became minimal & his urea & creatinine became very high (it literally describes prerenal failure). what to do regarding his medications?
a)Stop both ramipril & fureomide
b)Stop ramipril but increase the dose of furesomide
c)Stop ramipril & furesomide but add low dose dopamine
d) Stop ramipril, increase the dose of furesomide & add low dose dopamine
e) I can't remember, I think it was a silly choice
i also think like u between a) and c) low dose dopamine effect is vasodilation,moderate dose increased cardiac contractility,high dose pressor dose.,i don't know what to choose.

with regard to ethylene glycol posioning,ethanol can be used as a tratement ,besides fomepizole,to bind alchol dehydrogenase with higher affinity than ethylene glycol,and so block the production of toxic metabolites .(Harrison hand book16 th edition pg.83)

rapid onset dementia with hallucination-dx - many answer chrales bonnet- i don't know it -where i have to read it ?pls reply me !i only know dementia with visual hallucination is lewy body dementia.
i willl be looking forward to hearing from u,since u r genius.

Thank you abu kamal rajibc and all others.
I think sharma,onexamination and pastest is enough.as this time exam had lot of Xrays and CT scans i think you should be good in that.what i feel is there are some short books on Xray .
some topics which have been repeatedly asked like thyroid disorders,celaic disease shud be read from harrison.

Congrats to all who passed, and for those who could`nt make it, there is always the next time. There can be only two results, and dont despair. Personally, I think Davidson is good enough, with a few repeated topics being read from Harrisons, as Dr Saara has rightly pointed out. ONexamination is good, that would be enough. Keep on doing MCQs as one gets an idea of the pattern of the exam. Its definitely not easy, but is not impossible either. Take acreeverybody, and Bye!!

Dear Dr.Osama , I didn`t put a plan yet , for PACES , but the golden rule is : never apply for the exam unless u r WELL - PREPARED . Alhamd lellah , I passed parts 1 & 2 from the 1st attempt . Hoping to do so in PACES . Best luck for all .

thanks GOD I scored 99.98% I knew from the begining that would be my score!!!!!!!! harrison is myfavourite.and nice guidelines in all details is my advice to every keen body. see you all in paces 1/2009.

Hi all,
i scored 52.2 (when passing were 50.27) and 54% when passing marks were 54.4%
I heard if I apply for december 08 attempt (my 3rd attempt) I will not be eligible for march-april paces , irrespective of result.
I am planning to take march paces & april PACES in 2009.
Is it a wise decision? I feel passing paces much easier than guessing game of part 2 a.

I read sanjay sharma 2 times / did passtest and onexamination ( I used to score 70% on those exams) is there any other way to go about in part 2a?

I am frustrated by part 2a.

Which are the books to read for PACES? specially communication and history taking.

Dear Dr.Omar , I think that PACES is much more difficult than written exams . According to the new system (2009) , u can apply for PACES before , or WITH part 2 written exam , but I don`t advise u to do so . En Shaa Allah , u`ll pass the written exam next diet . SHARMA + OnExam +/- 123 +/- Pastest + any x ray book , containing CT images +/- Beynon (images) . Best of luck .